WHY IT IS A PROBLEM? Sufficient human population is needed to change a nation’s fortune, but overpopulation not only affects roughly a nation but the whole world. Overpopulation is a condition where there are excessive number of people comparing with the carrying capacity of their habitat, resources, and facilities. It has a great impact on the environment. Increased population will breath more, need more habitat, use more gas fuel vehicles, and need more products that are industrial produced. These all factors cause global warming, climate change, deforestation, pollution, and extinction of various species. Besides these direct impacts, overpopulation also affects the environment indirect way by affecting human directly. Because of the limited resources, overpopulation creates problem like lack of food, drinking water, electricity, gas, health service, education system, transportation system, and job for everybody. All these problems raise economical, political, social problems, which influence individual’s judgment of sustainability. CRITICAL IN BANGLADESH Overpopulation problem is the number one problem in Bangladesh. According to World Population Reference, by end of 2010 Bangladesh will have population of 164 million. This country has the area of 1,47,000 square kilometer, which makes the population density about 1116 person per s km. This poor land-man ratio caused slow economic growth and increased unemployment, poverty, hunger, diseases, corruption and crime. Even if Bangladesh achieves 2- child family norm (TFR of 2.1 or NRR=1) by 2016, population will stabilize by 2070 at around 230 millions. It will take 12-15 years after 2070 to reach stationary population, where the number of births will be equal to number of deaths and resultant growth rate is zero. LOW INCOME FAMILIES ARE OFTEN BIGGER IN SIZE! In Bangladesh, most of the people live in the village fall under low-income rate. Total fertility rate for rural woman is 2.8 and for urban woman is 2.4. The families in the city that fall under poverty line also have many children. They think more members will bring more money, but do not think that they will need for food as well. Because of the economical status, they are unable to get proper education, which could teach them about overpopulation problems and how to do family planning. In USA, overpopulation is not a huge problem yet. If we look at the family size by income, we will see the low-income families are bigger. Through immigration, many families from poor countries come to USA. Many of them bring their reproductive habits with them. The US policy of social service is also indirectly responsible for larger size families. As the family size increases and income decreases, more benefit from the government (food, health insurance, medicine, housing etc.) will be received. SOLUTION If we all do not act about this problem now, environmental problems will rise high and there will be ecological imbalance. Then, Mother Nature will take action by horrible natural disaster and the world will be done. To come with a solution we have to know the reasons for overpopulation. The main causes are decline in death and rise in the birth rate because of major improvement in quality of life and health services. Migration of people from underdeveloped areas to developed areas created an overpopulation condition in those areas, lack of education about the family planning and the harmful effects of overpopulation, and different cultural values like need of a son for heritage are also reasons for overpopulation. In the democratic society, we cannot force people to have fewer children but we can teach them sustainability issues and how we each can make a difference. US government could be little strict about their laws. A law could be, families with two children will receive more benefits then the families with more, or to receive the benefits a parson has to work or go to school. LINKS Bangladesh Population: Prospects and Problems
WHY IT IS A PROBLEM?
Sufficient human population is needed to change a nation’s fortune, but overpopulation not only affects roughly a nation but the whole world. Overpopulation is a condition where there are excessive number of people comparing with the carrying capacity of their habitat, resources, and facilities. It has a great impact on the environment. Increased population will breath more, need more habitat, use more gas fuel vehicles, and need more products that are industrial produced. These all factors cause global warming, climate change, deforestation, pollution, and extinction of various species. Besides these direct impacts, overpopulation also affects the environment indirect way by affecting human directly. Because of the limited resources, overpopulation creates problem like lack of food, drinking water, electricity, gas, health service, education system, transportation system, and job for everybody. All these problems raise economical, political, social problems, which influence individual’s judgment of sustainability.
CRITICAL IN BANGLADESH
Overpopulation problem is the number one problem in Bangladesh. According to World Population Reference, by end of 2010 Bangladesh will have population of 164 million. This country has the area of 1,47,000 square kilometer, which makes the population density about 1116 person per s km. This poor land-man ratio caused slow economic growth and increased unemployment, poverty, hunger, diseases, corruption and crime. Even if Bangladesh achieves 2- child family norm (TFR of 2.1 or NRR=1) by 2016, population will stabilize by 2070 at around 230 millions. It will take 12-15 years after 2070 to reach stationary population, where the number of births will be equal to number of deaths and resultant growth rate is zero.
LOW INCOME FAMILIES ARE OFTEN BIGGER IN SIZE!
In Bangladesh, most of the people live in the village fall under low-income rate. Total fertility rate for rural woman is 2.8 and for urban woman is 2.4. The families in the city that fall under poverty line also have many children. They think more members will bring more money, but do not think that they will need for food as well. Because of the economical status, they are unable to get proper education, which could teach them about overpopulation problems and how to do family planning. In USA, overpopulation is not a huge problem yet. If we look at the family size by income, we will see the low-income families are bigger. Through immigration, many families from poor countries come to USA. Many of them bring their reproductive habits with them. The US policy of social service is also indirectly responsible for larger size families. As the family size increases and income decreases, more benefit from the government (food, health insurance, medicine, housing etc.) will be received.
SOLUTION
If we all do not act about this problem now, environmental problems will rise high and there will be ecological imbalance. Then, Mother Nature will take action by horrible natural disaster and the world will be done. To come with a solution we have to know the reasons for overpopulation. The main causes are decline in death and rise in the birth rate because of major improvement in quality of life and health services. Migration of people from underdeveloped areas to developed areas created an overpopulation condition in those areas, lack of education about the family planning and the harmful effects of overpopulation, and different cultural values like need of a son for heritage are also reasons for overpopulation. In the democratic society, we cannot force people to have fewer children but we can teach them sustainability issues and how we each can make a difference. US government could be little strict about their laws. A law could be, families with two children will receive more benefits then the families with more, or to receive the benefits a parson has to work or go to school.
LINKS
Bangladesh Population: Prospects and Problems
Overpopulation Problems
The Most Overpopulated Nation
Bangladesh, by the numbers (with video footage!)
CITATION
Ehrlich, Paul R.Ehrlich and Anne H. NPG Forum Series. January 2001. 14 September 2010 http://www.npg.org/forum_series/ehrlich.htm.
Naik, Abhijit. Buzzle.com. 20 January 2010. 13 September 2010 http://www.buzzle.com/articles/overpopulation-problems.html.PhD, Mohammed A. Mabud. Bangladesh Population: Prospects and Problems. 15 December 2008. 13 September 2010 http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:FcWrhvWud-4J:www.northsouth.edu/php/faculty/Bangladesh_population.doc+bangladesh+population+problems&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us.